Attacks in Paris – Speech by M. François Hollande, President of the Republic, to a joint session of Parliament

Versailles, 16 November 2015

Mr President of the Congrès [joint session of Parliament],

Mr President of the Senate,

Prime Minister,

Ladies and gentlemen members of the government,

Ladies and gentlemen parliamentarians,

National unity against terrorism

France is at war. The acts committed in Paris and near the Stade de France on Friday evening are acts of war. They left at least 129 dead and many injured. They are an act of aggression against our country, against its values, against its young people, and against its way of life.

They were carried out by a jihadist army, by the group Daesh [ISIL], which is fighting us because France is a country of freedom, because we are the birthplace of human rights.

At this exceptionally solemn moment, I wanted to address a joint session of Parliament to demonstrate our national unity in the face of such an abomination and to respond with the cool determination that this vile attack against our country calls for.

In truth, our democracy has triumphed over much more fearsome enemies than these cowardly murderers. Our Republic is beyond the reach of despicable killers.

I am determined to marshal the full strength of the state to protect our fellow citizens. I know I can count on the dedication of police officers, gendarmes, soldiers and you yourselves, our national representatives. You know what duty means and, when necessary, the spirit of sacrifice.

Terrorists believe that free people will allow themselves to be intimidated by horror. That’s not the case, and the French Republic has surmounted many other trials. It is still here, still alive and well. Those who have sought to defy it have always been on the losing side of history. The same thing will be true this time. The French people are a passionate, tough, courageous people. They do not resign themselves, and when one of their children is thrown down, they rise up.

Those who wanted to harm them by deliberately targeting innocents are cowards who fired on an unarmed crowd. It cannot be said that we are engaged in a war of civilizations, for these assassins do not represent one. We are in a war against jihadist terrorism, which threatens the entire world, not just France.

In this war, which began several years ago, we are all aware that we need time, and that patience is every bit as necessary as the endurance and fierceness with which we must fight.

The enemy uses the vilest means in its attempts to kill. But it is not beyond capture, and even more specifically it is not out of reach.

So at such a sad and difficult time, a time when our citizens have experienced horror, they must remain cool-headed. I appeal once again to all our compatriots to demonstrate those virtues that are a credit to our country: perseverance, unity, clear-headedness and dignity.

Victims/emergency services/security forces

Today, our country is in mourning. We think about the innocent people who died, cut down in the streets and suburbs of Paris by armed killers. We think of their families, who are experiencing the most inconsolable pain. We think about the hundreds of young people, girls and boys, who were hit, wounded, traumatized by this terrible attack. As I speak, some of them are still fighting for their lives.

I applaud the work of our emergency and medical services, which have been mobilized since Friday. Our healthcare system had prepared for such an emergency situation, and once again it rose to the occasion, fulfilling its mission perfectly.

I also want to pay tribute to the security forces, who are fully engaged in guaranteeing the safety of the French, as evidenced once again by the courage of those police officers who – when the time came to launch their assault to free the Bataclan hostages, who were condemned to certain death without their intervention – once again showed determination and no thought for themselves.

On Friday, the terrorists’ target was France as a whole. France, which loves life, culture, sport, celebrations. France, which makes no distinction as to colour, origin, background, religion. The France that the assassins wanted to kill was that of its young people in all their diversity. Most of the dead were under 30. Their names were Mathias, Quentin, Nick, Nohemi, Djamila, Hélène, Elodie, Valentin, and I’ve left out so many others! What was their only crime? Being alive.

International dimension

What the terrorists were attacking was the France that is open to the world. Among the victims were several dozen of our foreign friends, representing 19 different nationalities.

Since Friday evening, I have been receiving messages of solidarity from heads of state and government around the globe. And everywhere, the three colours of the French flag have adorned the most famous landmarks, reminding us that France has always been a beacon for humankind. And that when it is attacked, the whole world is thrown for a while into shadow.

Friday’s acts of war were decided upon, planned and prepared in Syria. They were organized in Belgium and carried out on our soil with French complicity.

Their objective was quite clear: to sow fear in order to divide us here, and exert pressure to keep us from fighting terrorism there, in the Middle East.

We are facing an organization, Daesh, which has a territorial base, financial resources and military capabilities. Since the beginning of the year, Daesh’s terrorist army has struck in Paris, Denmark, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Libya. Every day, it massacres and oppresses populations.

That is why the need to destroy Daesh concerns the whole international community. I have therefore asked the Security Council to meet as soon as possible to adopt a resolution expressing our common will to combat terrorism.

French and international response to Daesh

Meanwhile, France will step up its operations in Syria.

Yesterday evening I ordered 10 French fighter jets to launch airstrikes on the Daesh stronghold of Raqqa. They destroyed a command centre and a training camp. I wholeheartedly congratulate the French pilots who successfully carried out this mission. I also want to thank our American allies, who provided useful support in this operation. And I want to announce here, before the Congrès, that we will continue these strikes in the weeks to come. On Thursday, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier will set sail for the eastern Mediterranean, which will triple our capacity to act. And we will act indefatigably and without respite.

Those who ordered the Paris attacks must know that far from undermining France’s resolve, their crimes have further strengthened our determination to destroy them.

We are fighting terrorism wherever the very survival of states is under threat. That was the reason for my decision to intervene in Mali, and it still justifies the presence of our troops in the Sahel, where Boko Haram carries out massacres, kidnappings, rapes and murders. We are fighting terrorism in Iraq to allow the authorities of that country to restore their sovereignty throughout the country, and in Syria, where we are resolutely and tirelessly seeking a political solution, one that does not include Bashar al-Assad. But our enemy in Syria is Daesh.

There is no question of containing it. This organization must be destroyed, both to save the populations of Syria and Iraq and those of Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey – all the neighbouring countries – and to protect ourselves, to keep foreign fighters from coming to our country, as was the case on Friday, to commit terrorist acts.

But we must do more. Syria has become the largest breeding ground for terrorists that the world has ever known, and the international community – as I have noted several times – is divided and incohesive. From the outset of the conflict, France has called for this unity, which is so necessary in order to act.

Today, we need more airstrikes, which we are carrying out, and more support for those who are fighting Daesh, which we, France, are providing. But we need all those who can really combat this terrorist army to unite as part of a large, single coalition. That is what we are working for.

In the next few days, I will therefore meet President Obama and President Putin to combine our strengths and achieve a result which, at this point, has been put off for far too long.

France is speaking to everyone – to Iran, Turkey, the Gulf states. The Paris attacks occurred just as we were meeting these countries in Vienna to find a political solution in Syria. Now, all of us – the neighbouring countries, the major powers, but also Europe – must live up to our responsibilities.

I have asked the Defence Minister to take up this matter tomorrow with our European colleagues under Article 42 (7) of the Treaty on European Union, the solidarity clause, which states that when one state is attacked, all the member states shall have the obligation to provide solidarity, because the enemy is not just France’s enemy, it is Europe’s enemy.

Syria/Iraq/refugees

Europe cannot live in the belief that the crises around it have no effect on it. The refugee issue is directly linked to the wars in Syria and Iraq. The inhabitants of those countries, particularly those living in territories controlled by Daesh, are suffering hideously and they are fleeing. They are the victims of this same terrorist system.

That is why it is vital for Europe to offer a dignified welcome to those who are eligible for asylum and to send home those who are not. That requires effective protection for our external borders, which is not yet the case. France is working on it. We were the first to sound the alarm, and France and Germany are currently working to ensure that the countries facing an influx of refugees receive help. The first to receive help must be the countries of the region: Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon. And if Europe does not control its external borders – we are seeing this before our very eyes – that means a return to national borders, if not the walls and barbed wire that are being announced.

That will mean the dismantling of the European Union.

It is also imperative for France’s long-standing demands to be implemented swiftly in Europe. I’m talking about combating the arms trade, establishing coordinated and systematic border controls and approving, before the end of 2015, what we call the European PNR, to track the return of jihadists and arrest them.

These are the demands that France will convey once again through the Interior Minister to the meeting that will be held at our request on Friday.

French jihadists

Given the acts of war committed on our soil – coming in the wake of the attacks of 7, 8 and 9 January and in the wake of so many other crimes committed in recent years in the name of this same jihadist ideology – we must be merciless.

It hurts to say it, but we know that it was French people who killed other French people on Friday. Living here in our land are individuals who start out by committing crimes, become radicalized and go on to become terrorists. Sometimes they leave to fight in Syria or Iraq. Sometimes they form networks that provide training, in certain cases, or which help one another, with a view to carrying out terrorist acts at a time determined by their sponsors. We have thwarted several of these acts in the past few months and we’ve now known, sadly for several months, what the plot is, what the organization is, and what is being prepared.

It is therefore urgent for us to defend ourselves, on a long-term basis. What’s at stake is the protection of our fellow citizens and our ability to live together.

Border controls/state of emergency

On Friday night, once we knew the terrible toll taken by the shootings, I convened the Council of Ministers. I ordered the immediate re-establishment of border controls and I proclaimed a state of emergency, as recommended by the Prime Minister.

It is now effective throughout France, and I expanded the ability to carry out police searches in every department of metropolitan France. Last night, more than 104 people were placed under house arrest and there were 168 police searches. And there will be more.

But with the acts of war on 13 November, the enemy has taken things to a new level.

Democracy is capable of responding. Article 2 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen affirms that safety and resistance against oppression are fundamental rights. So we must exercise them.

In accordance with these principles, we will provide the means to guarantee the safety of our fellow citizens once again.

I have decided that a bill prolonging the state of emergency for three months, adapting its content to the changes in threats and technologies, will be brought before Parliament on Wednesday.

Indeed, the law which governs the state of emergency of 3 April 1955 cannot really match the kind of technologies and threats we face today.

But it includes two exceptional measures: house arrest and police searches. These two measures offer useful means to prevent terrorist acts. I want to ensure that they are fully implemented and strengthened.

The Prime Minister will therefore propose to Parliament that we adopt a comprehensive legal scheme for each of these provisions. And you, parliamentarians, I invite you to vote on them before the end of the week.

But we have to go beyond the emergency situation.

Constitutional revisions

I have thought about this issue a lot. I honestly think that we must develop our constitution to allow the government authorities to act against terrorism that incites war, in accordance with the rule of law.

Our constitution currently has two specific schemes that are not appropriate for the situation we are in.

The first scheme involves Article 16 of the constitution. It specifies that the regular functioning of public authorities be suspended. The President will then take such measures as warranted by the circumstances, overriding the distribution of the constitutional powers.

And then there’s Article 36 of the constitution, which relates to the state of siege. And this isn’t appropriate either. A state of siege is decreed in situations of imminent peril resulting from a foreign war or an armed insurrection. In this situation, various powers are then transferred from the civil to the military authorities.

As you can see, neither of these schemes is appropriate for the situation we find ourselves in. The regular functioning of the government authorities – and we are proving that today – has not been interrupted. Transferring power to the military authorities would be inconceivable. However, we are at war. But this war is a different kind of war, we are facing a new kind of adversary. A constitutional scheme is needed to deal with this emergency.

This was what was proposed in 2007 by the committee chaired by Edouard Balladur which looked at changes to our constitution. It suggested changing Article 36 of our constitution to include reference to a state of siege as well as a state of emergency, and its proposal was to allow a basic law to lay down the conditions in which these schemes will be used.

And I believe that this approach should be reintroduced. We need to have an appropriate tool to provide a framework for taking exceptional measures for a certain period without recourse to the state of siege and without compromising public freedoms.

This revision of the constitution must be accompanied by other measures. The issue at stake is the deprivation of nationality. The deprivation of nationality should not result in making someone stateless, but we need to be able to strip French nationality from an individual found guilty of a terrorist act or other acts against a country’s fundamental interests even if he was born a French person, if he has another nationality.

In the same way, we must be able to prohibit dual nationals from returning to our country if they constitute a terrorist threat, unless they agree to be closely monitored, as is the case in Britain.

We should be able to expel more rapidly foreigners who represent an especially serious threat to public order or the country’s security, but we should do so in accordance with our international commitments.

I know that other proposals have been made to strengthen the surveillance of certain individuals, especially those who are on file. The government, in a spirit of national unity, will ask the Conseil d’Etat (1) to look at whether these proposals are in accordance with our international commitments and our basic laws. That ruling will be made public and I will draw all the appropriate conclusions from it.

We should think carefully about this decision. Our constitution is a collective agreement. It unites all our citizens. It is a common rule. It includes principles; it has a preamble which shows that France is a state governed by the rule of law.

The constitution is a common charter. It is a contract which unites all the citizens of the same country. And if the constitution is a collective agreement, an essential agreement for living together, then the constitution should include responses for combating those who want to undermine it, in the same way that groups and associations which incite hatred or incite others to carry out terrorism should be dissolved.

Ladies and gentlemen parliamentarians, I ask you to think about the decision I have taken. I will ask the Prime Minister to prepare this revision with you so that it can be adopted as soon as possible.

Because we have extended, or you will extend the state of emergency beyond the 12-day period to three months. But after the state of emergency is lifted we must observe the rule of law in our efforts to combat terrorism.

Justice and security

And since the threat is going to continue and we will be involved in the fight against Daesh for a long time abroad and at home, I’ve also decided to substantially strengthen the resources available to the justice system and the security forces.

Firstly, the investigation services and anti-terrorist judges should, within the context of judicial proceedings, be able to have recourse to the whole range of intelligence techniques offered by new technology, whose use is authorized, within an administrative context, through the intelligence act. Criminal proceedings should also, as far as possible, take account of the specific nature of the terrorist threat.

Secondly, the magistrates should have access to the most sophisticated investigation methods, especially in order to combat the trafficking of arms, because terrorist acts are committed with these illegal weapons. Penalties will be significantly increased.

Lastly, in the face of violent terrorism, the self-defence of police officers and the conditions under which they can use their weapons should be addressed within the framework of the rule of law.

These various issues will be part of a major legislative project, which I will ask the Prime Minister to conduct and initiate immediately, together with the ministers concerned – the Keeper of the Seals [Justice Minister], the Minister of the Interior – so that we do not lose any time before taking action.

These provisions will complement all the measures that have been adopted since 2012, that is to say two anti-terrorist acts, an intelligence act and the considerable strengthening of resources. But I am also aware that we need to further strengthen our resources because if we are at war, we cannot just use the provisions that we had a few years ago in the military estimates acts and other texts, which were aimed at preserving the security of our citizens.

Five thousand additional jobs for police officers and gendarmes will be created within the next two years in order to bring the total number of security-related jobs to 10,000 over five years. This is a substantial effort that the government will assume within the budgetary context that you are aware of. But it will make it possible to restore the capacity of the internal security forces to 2007 levels.

The creation of these jobs will benefit the anti-terrorist services, the border police and, more generally, the country’s overall security and will go hand in hand with the investment and equipment necessary to carry out the missions [to combat terrorism].

Similarly, the Ministry of Justice will have 2,500 additional jobs in the prison service and the judiciary. And I shouldn’t forget the customs service, which will need an additional 1,000 employees in order ensure border control, if necessary.

As for our armed forces, they are increasingly needed for operations abroad, which we will continue in order to ensure the necessary security of our compatriots. So there, too, I have decided that there will be no cutbacks in defence personnel until 2019. And this reorganization of our armed forces will benefit operational, cyber defence and intelligence units. The government will, as swiftly as possible, submit to me a new plan for changes in defence personnel up to 2019.

Defence reservists

I also want to make better use of defence reserves, who are still being under-used in our country, while we do have this resource. Reservists form a strong link between the nation and the army. They could in the future form a national guard that is trained and available.

All these budgetary decisions will be taken within the framework of the Finance Act, which is, at the moment, under discussion for 2016. They will necessarily result in extra spending, but under these circumstances, I believe that the security pact takes precedence over the stability pact.

So ladies and gentlemen, the faces of the dead, the wounded, the bereaved families, weigh heavily on my mind. This memory fuels an unwavering determination, which I know you share.

In my determination to combat terrorism, I want France to remain itself. The barbarians attacking it want to disfigure it. They will not succeed. They will not be able to disfigure it. They will never succeed in destroying the French soul. They will never prevent us from living, from living the way we want to, freely and fully, and we must demonstrate that with cool heads. And I’m thinking of the young people. I’m thinking of those who feel wounded on behalf of all these victims and are wondering whether they can still live in a state governed by the rule of law.

Paris Climate Conference

We must continue, continue to work, to go out, to live, to influence the world, and that is why the major climate conference event will not only still go ahead but will be a moment of hope and solidarity. A moment of hope because the future of the planet is at stake and a moment of solidarity, too, because, there will undoubtedly be more than 100 heads of state and government who will come here to negotiate a lasting, binding agreement, one which is differentiated so that we can all live and so that our children and grandchildren can continue to have the planet they will inherit. But they will also tell France, a country of freedom, how much the whole world stands in solidarity with it, and how much the whole world also needs to mobilize its efforts in order to combat terrorism.

In the same way, our democratic timetable will not be subject to blackmail by the terrorists. Regional elections will take place as planned and political life will come back into full operation. It’s our duty to ensure that.

Mr President of the Congrès, Mr President of the Senate, ladies and gentlemen parliamentarians, those who represent the entire nation, you represent it in all its diversity, in all its sensitivities and in its unity. You represent a free people, an invincible people, when it is united and comes together. It is our most precious asset. And we have to avoid any one-upmanship or excesses. That is our republican duty. By giving up the battle that the Republic should have been waging, it was able to distance itself from certain circumstances; we must ensure that this isn’t the case today.

In the face of this new context of war, the Republic must equip itself with the means to eradicate terrorism, while upholding our values and without compromising the rule of law.

We will eradicate terrorism because the French want to continue to live together without fearing anything from their neighbours. We will eradicate terrorism because we are attached to freedom and to raising France’s profile around the world. We will eradicate terrorism so that the movement of people and the mixing of cultures can continue and so that human civilization is enriched. We will eradicate terrorism so that France can continue to lead the way. Terrorism will not destroy the Republic, because the Republic will destroy it.

Long live the Republic and long live France!./.

(1) supreme administrative court which also advises the government on legislation.